Trial of the Emperor
by Frost Deejn
Summary: Ken is taken to trial for the crimes he committed as the Emperor. Painful memories resurface as Ken's friends and enemies argue over his fate. But hidden in Ken's submerged memories is a greater danger that could destroy them all.


Disclaimer: Sigh. I do not own _Digimon_. Rub it in why don't you.

**The Trial of the Emperor**

"He's obviously totally in love with you," Yolei insisted.

Kari shrugged. "I don't know what makes you think that," she said coyly.

"Besides the way he _gagas_ at you whenever you're in the room and you're the only one whose opinion on his stories he cares about?"

"T.K. and I are just friends," Kari repeated.

"Pshaw. Open your eyes, Kari. He adores you."

The two were walking to Cody's apartment. They'd received cryptic e-mails to meet at his place after school to discuss something, but they took their time walking through the gloriously temperate and sunshiny day.

"Kind of like you adore Ken?" Kari teased.

Yolei smacked her gently. "Puh-lease! I got over that, like, three years ago. Besides, he loves Gatomon."

"You can't seriously believe that."

"Why not? It's not normal for someone to spend that much time with someone else's digimon. And why did she save him first during that moosemon stampede?"

Kari rolled her eyes. "They just bonded a lot when they were trapped in the underworld together last year. That's all. A human and a digimon! Come on!"

"Have you ever asked Gatomon?"

"No! And I never will. Honestly, Yolei, that's just ridiculous. Besides, it's not about him; it's about you. You might have gotten over him for a while, but you do like him. I can tell."

"No you can't. But you're in love with T.K. and you know it and should tell him." She summed up her argument because they had arrived at their destination.

T.K., Davis, and Cody looked at them as they entered. They appeared troubled.

"What took you so long?" Davis asked. They didn't answer.

"What happened?" Kari asked.

Cody cleared his throat. "Bad news, guys."

"Ken's been arrested!" Davis blurted out.

"What!" Yolei and Kari exclaimed in unison.

"Apparently," said T.K., "Ken went to the digiworld yesterday and was placed under citizen's arrest by a group of digimon."

"Then let's go there and clear up the mistake," Yolei suggested.

Cody shook his head. "It's not that simple…"

"The charges relate to him being the Digimon Emperor," T.K. finished.

"That can't be," Kari said. "They haven't complained about that for years."

Cody said, "They're trying to have him exiled from the digital world."

Yolei clenched her fists. "Who started this?"

"That's what I want to know!" Davis yelled. "Let me at 'em!"

"That's not important," T.K. said. "The important thing is we talk some sense into them."

"Speaking of which," Cody said hesitantly, "he…asked me to represent him."

"Well that makes sense," Yolei stated. "If anyone can talk some sense into them, it's you, Cody."

"What about me?" Davis complained. "I'm his best friend!"

The others wisely remained silent.

"Anyway," said T.K., "we're going to the digiworld. Call your parents; this may be a long night."

* * *

Ken sat stoically in a large cage suspended from the ceiling of the courtroom. The prosecution had converted a room in one of his old prisons to serve the purpose. It floated on a lake, connected to the shore via a single easily-defendable bridge. 

Wormmon sat beside his partner in the cage, even though he wasn't on trial and Ken had repeatedly told him he didn't have to stay. Wormmon refused to leave his partner, as always.

The other digidestined digimon were waiting in the audience. The trial would begin as soon as the defendant's representation arrived.

Ken glanced at the judge: Unciamon, a silver feline digimon from the mountains of the far north. She had been chosen to judge because she had been completely isolated from the events of the Digimon Emperor's reign. She'd never even heard of him before. It was a compromise: a completely impartial judge who would have the sole responsibility of deciding his guilt or innocence, as well as punishment. The prosecution would agree to that, but didn't want to put forth the effort to find an entire impartial jury.

Ken shifted his eyes to the prosecutor, Pangolinmon. He worried Ken more. He had encountered this digimon once before, on a painful day long ago.

Flashback

Ken never wanted to return to the digiworld after finding Wormmon in Primary Village. He was sure he wasn't wanted there, anyway. But after that strange woman appeared in his room, he'd agreed with Wormmon that they had to get to the bottom of it. That's how Ken ended up in that part of the digital world on that particular afternoon. They had tracked the woman to a rocky hillside, but ran into some trouble.

A mothmon dive-bombed them as they climbed over a boulder.

"Wormmon, jump!" Ken yelled.

They leaped off as the mothmon hit into the boulder.

"Lepidoptera Lunge!" The digimon attacked.

Wormmon tried to reason with their attacker even as he dodged ricocheting rock shards. "Why are you attacking us? Can't we talk this out?"

"Lepidoptera Lunge!"

Wormmon tried to scramble out of the way, but the slope gave way, and he started slipping down.

"Wormmon!" Disregarding his own safety, Ken plunged down after his partner, grasped his front legs, and pulled him to a firm foothold. This put Ken right into the path of the mothmon's attack.

Wormmon wrenched free of Ken's grip and placed himself between him and the other digimon. "Sticky net!"

The larger digimon just flicked the web from its eyes without slowing down.

"Wormmon, no!" The boy's shout embodied abject terror. He had just got his digimon back; it would destroy him to see Wormmon die again.

Unexpectedly, a bright light emanated from his digivice.

"Wormmon digivolve to: Stingmon!"

Ken flinched. "What the…?"

"We don't want to hurt you," Stingmon said as he held back the mothmon. It didn't respond.

The mysterious woman appeared at the top of the hill. "Mothmon," she ordered, "don't bother with that digimon—get the boy!"

Mothmon flew backwards, throwing Stingmon off balance. Stingmon collapsed on a pile of rocks, and the mothmon turned toward Ken, advancing as the human backed against a cliff.

"Lepidoptera…"

"Spiking Strike!"

The mothmon flew off course.

"Leave Ken alone!" Stingmon commanded.

Ken was confused. How could the woman control the digimon? It didn't appear to have a dark ring. Was it just attacking Ken because he was the Emperor?

In a moment, it wouldn't matter. The mothmon was preparing another attack, and in Ken's position it would most likely kill him. He saw Stingmon position himself behind the mothmon, and sensed what he was about to do. "No, Stingmon! Don't kill it!"

"Lepidoptera Lu…"

"Spiking Strike!"

The mothmon collided with a boulder and began to disintegrate. Stingmon reeled back, though Ken couldn't tell if it was out of dismay or surprise. Their attacker pixilated completely and disappeared.

Ken stared at where the digimon had been. He had a terrible, sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. "I told you not to kill him."

Stingmon would have preferred anger to the quiet defeat in his friend's voice. "He would have killed you."

"That's beside the point."

"I'm sorry, Ken," Stingmon said.

A look of pain crossed the boy's face, replaced by something else, unreadable. "It's not you fault, Wormmon. Come on, let's go find that woman. Now I really want some answers."

They followed the road in the direction the woman presumably went, but soon they saw another digimon coming toward them. Ken hid behind a control spire.

"Hello," the digimon said. "Are you new around here? I don't remember seeing you before."

"Uhh…Yes," Stingmon answered.

"Welcome, then. I'm Pangolinmon. Pleased to meet you."

"Likewise," said Stingmon.

"You'll like it here," Pangolinmon continued. "Now that the DIgimon Emperor is gone, at least. Thank goodness."

"Mmhm," Stingmon mumbled.

"It's a good thing the digidestined got rid of him when they did. Although, personally, I think they should have waited for Kimeramon to destroy him. Now we can only hope he doesn't come back. Rumor has it he was seen near Primary Village the other day, but you know how rumors pop up when digimon are scared. Primary Village was one place we hoped the Emperor would never find. But as I said, just a rumor. Still, we should be careful; keep your eyes open."

"Will do," Stingmon said.

"I'll see you around, then," Pangolinmon said in farewell and began ambling away.

"By the way, have you seen a strange woman with a big hat and long, pale hair?" Stingmon asked quickly.

"Yeah," Pangolinmon called back. "I saw her further down the road, heading that way. She looked like bad news to me, but I try not to judge."

"Thanks." Stingmon watched until Pangolinmon was out of sight, then looked behind the control spire.

Ken sat in a fetal position, his face buried in his arms.

"Ken?" Stingmon stooped down. His large hand reached out and gently lifted his friend's head, revealing a face streaked with tears and eyes tightly closed in despair.

"He's right," he said. "I never should have come to the digital world."

"No, Ken." Stingmon wiped away the tears, which were immediately replaced by new ones. "If you hadn't come here, you never would have found me. Come on. We can still catch up with that woman."

Ken nodded. Stingmon lifted his partner into his arms and rose into the air. They didn't say anything for a minute, then Stingmon brought up something that had been troubling him since the battle. "That mothmon…something wasn't right about it. Don't ask me to explain, but I'm not sure it was a real digimon."

"What do you mean?"

"I told you not to ask me to explain," Stingmon moaned.

Moments later, they saw the woman on a hill above a village. They landed, hid, and watched. She stood next to a control spire. Ken gasped in shock as the control spire lifted off the ground and reorganized itself into a digimon. The woman pointed at the village, and the pseudo-digimon flew off.

"Stingmon," Ken whispered, "stop that thing. I'll catch up."

Stingmon flew toward the village. Ken ran as fast as he could. When he reached the village, he climbed up a roof to get a better look. The first thing he saw was a large, yellow champion-level digimon fighting the fake digimon. Then he saw…

"No," he thought to himself. "Not them. Anyone but them."

The digidestined would never believe him.

Present

How ironic, Ken now saw, that that day led to the best friendships he'd ever had.

The digidestined arrived. Davis immediately demanded Ken be released; T.K. looked like he might have to be held back; Kari calmly surveyed the courtroom; Yolei somehow started a fight with the first digimon guard she came to (with Hawkmon trying to calm her); Cody walked straight to the judge.

"When are you going to let Ken go!" Davis demanded. There were angry shouts from some of the digimon in the audience, and the judge banged her gavel.

After a brief exchange with both Cody and Pangolinmon, the judge called the court to order. The digidestined seated themselves next to their digimon.

"The representatives of the prosecution and defense will take turns calling witnesses to the stand. There will be no cross-examination, as the defense attorney suggests, but the trial will not be limited to the time period of one hour, as the prosecuting attorney suggests. When there are no more witnesses to be called, I shall make my judgment," Unciamon proclaimed.

Pangolinmon whispered something to Unciamon, and she nodded. He turned to the room. "My fellow digimon," he began, "As you all know, this human, Ken Ichijouji, came to our world several years ago and tried—and very nearly succeeded—to take it over. After his plan was foiled and he found himself at the mercy of his enemies, he conveniently repented of his crimes and turned a new leaf—"

"That's not what happened!" Davis interjected.

"Order," Unciamon warned.

Pangolinmon continued. "Since the defendant's abrupt change of heart, he has been able to come to the digital as he pleases. We're of the opinion that the digital world isn't safe as long as the digimon emperor remains in it. He has committed egregious crimes against digimonity that have never been punished. The list of charges is a long one: destruction of property, enslavement, terrorism, monslaughter. We would feel justified in seeking the death penalty, but we'll leave that to your judgment, Your Honor. I will sum up the charges as this simple, indisputable fact: Ken Ichijouji is guilty of being the digimon emperor!"

A crescendo of approval erupted from the prosecution's side of the audience. Digimon journalists wrote frantically in their notebooks.

Cody and Ken had a hurried conversation in whispers, then Cody walked to the front. "Your honor, my client will submit a plea of not guilty."

Someone in the prosecution camp gasped. Several others, after getting over their shock, protested angrily.

"Order! Order in my court," Unciamon snapped. After the room regained silence, she nodded for Cody to continue.

"Although we do not deny that the defendant _was _the digimon emperor, we contend that his transformation has been so complete that he can no longer be tried as the same person."

"That is your plea, then?" Unciamon asked curiously.

"Yes," Cody asserted with more confidence than he felt. He didn't like the idea of his friend's freedom—possibly even his life—depending on him.

"Would the prosecutor summon his first witness?"

The first witness was a sheep-like little digimon. He walked timidly to the stand, frequently glancing nervously in Ken's direction.

"State your name for the record, please," Pangolinmon requested.

"H-Hitsujimon," the digimon replied shakily.

"Hitsujimon, can you tell us what happened to your village?"

The digimon glanced at Ken again. He sputtered, turned back to the audience, and began: "It was terrible…a normal, pleasant day in the village, but then…a kuwagamon attacked. We didn't know why…we tried to fight back, but he destroyed the whole village…the whole village! Then this…human," he spat the word with disgust, "showed up and began throwing dark rings on everyone. It was horrible…horrible. I managed to escape…I had to watch everyone in my village become a slave." Hitsujimon was whimpering. Pangolinmon dismissed him, and he hurried to hide in the audience.

"Defense attorney, it's your turn to call a witness," Unciamon told Cody.

"I would like to call…Gatomon," he said.

She looked surprised, but eagerly took the stand.

"Gatomon," Cody began, "You were once counted among the minions of the evil digimon Myotismon, were you not?"

Gatomon was startled, but answered affirmative.

"But you're now a valued digidestined digimon. Could you explain?"

"Well," she began, "working for that awful Myotismon was all I really knew. He messed with my memory. He brainwashed me and tricked me into fighting the digidestined. It wasn't until Wizardmon helped me get my memories back and I found Kari that I turned against Myotismon."

"How powerful was Myotismon, would you say?"

"He was really, really powerful. Why?"

"Do you know if anyone else was also brainwashed and used by Myotismon?"

"Yes…YES!" She suddenly saw where Cody's questions were leading. "He also used Ken! Myotismon said so himself!"

"Do you think it's fair to punish Ken for things he did under Myotismon's control?"

"No," Gatomon answered. "Especially since Ken was crucial in preventing Myotismon from taking over the digital world."

"Thank you, Gatomon," Cody said. "I have no further questions."

She returned to Kari's side in the audience. Pangolinmon, worrisomely, smiled.

The prosecution next called on Theramon to take the stand. This digimon resembled a cross between a musk ox and a tyrannosaurus. Sharp teeth, claws, and horns poked out of a shaggy hide. She was too big to fit behind the witness stand, so she sat down in front of it, wrapping her long tail around enormous bird-like feet.

"Theramon," Pangolinmon began, "What is your opinion of the argument just given?"

"It's bologna." Her voice was deep and rumbling, but clearly female.

"Before I ask you to elaborate," said the prosecutor, "will you be so kind as to tell us about yourself?"

"I work for a covert society of digimon sworn to protect the digital world—without the help of interlopers from another," she said pointedly in the digidestineds' direction. "We call ourselves the Fireshield League."

Ken nodded imperceptibly. He had considered himself lucky that he hadn't crossed paths with them since joining the digidestined, but figured it was only a matter of time. None of the other humans had ever heard of them before.

"And what is the opinion of the Fireshield League regarding the issue of the former digimon emperor?"

"We fought against Ken Ichijouji from the beginning!" She exploded. "We do not believe he's changed and we do not believe he was instrumental in bringing down Malomyotismon! In fact, our sources indicate that if it weren't for Ichijouji, Myotismon wouldn't have been able to return to the digital world! That dark spore in his head that feeds on evil is what gave Myotismon the power to open a portal. Yes, Ichijouji was definitely connected with Myotismon, but was he controlled by him or in league with him? Sure, the human was young when he turned to evil, but he was clearly acting with his own will. Anyone who saw him force digimon to fight for his pleasure would know that. Anyone who saw him command Kimeramon to destroy our cities would know that."

"Thank you, Theramon," Pangolinmon said, looking very satisfied.

"For someone in a secret society," Davis whispered, "She sure does talk a lot."

Yolei wasn't listening to him; she was watching Ken, who had retreated to the darkest corner of his cage, where he sat looking forlorn.

Cody paced pensively, not sure who would be best for countering that last argument, but instinctively aware that too long an indecision would look like conceding defeat. Suddenly, he turned to his friends in the audience. "Would you testify, Davis?"

Some of the digidestined were perplexed, but Ken smiled as his best human friend took the stand.

"Davis," Cody said, "you fought against the digimon emperor. What was he like back then?"

Davis thought for a minute. "Basically, he was an absolute jerk. He was mean to everyone, he was trying to take over the digital world, and he was a really sore loser."

"And yet, after his defeat, you wanted him to join the digidestined. Why?"

"Well…" Davis shrugged. "He changed. It was like he suddenly saw what he was doing and was totally crushed. And I figured everyone deserves a second chance. And he got the Crest of Kindness. That had to mean something."

"Did you ever question the wisdom of giving your sworn enemy that opportunity?" Cody asked.

"Everyone told me it was dumb at the time," Davis admitted, "but I just had this feeling that I should forgive 'im. And when our digimon DNA digivolved I knew I was right."

Cody nodded. "So what do you think about the accusation that Ken was in league with Myotismon from the beginning?"

"No way," Davis stated. "Ken was just a little kid back then. And he was a digidestined. Not just any kid gets to be a digidestined. I don't think he would have been chosen if he was evil."

Cody nodded again, and let Davis return to his seat.

Pangolinmon stood. "I would like to call up Uvamon."

A plant-like digimon who looked like a grape cluster dragged itself forward with long vines that reached out and grabbed any available hold. It lifted itself in the air and dropped into the witness stand.

"Uvamon, have you ever encountered the defendant before?"

"Yes," Uvamon responded. "More than once."

"When was the first time?"

"Uvamon fidgeted. "I'm not sure, exactly. Many years ago. He was only a small child at the time."

"So this was before he became the emperor?"

"Yes, I would say so." Uvamon nodded to the full extent that a cluster of grapes could nod.

"Tell me," Pangolinmon requested, "what was your impression of the young future emperor?"

Uvamon twirled a leafy appendage thoughtfully. "He didn't seem very nice." Pangolinmon asked for further details. "I'm a naturally helpful digimon," Uvamon claimed, "so when I saw a little digimon in need of help, I—naturally—helped him. It was Wormmon. He was fighting a mean little lobstermon. He didn't seem exactly grateful, though, when I pulled him out."

"Why not?"

"He acted kind of nervous. He said something like 'what did you do that for?' Then that little black-haired human came up and started yelling at his digimon. Apperantly, he had some kind of tiff with the lobstermon…and had ordered his digimon to attack it."

"That wasn't your only encounter with the defendant, though, was it?"

"No." Uvamon began to look scared. "About a year later—he still hadn't started taking over the world yet…but he was already doing some mean things. Like, he kidnapped a few pollymon and did tests on them…experiments. Brainwashing and things. And then he put them back with the others to see what they would do. I confronted him about it, and…"

"And what?" Pangolinmon coaxed gently.

"He threatened me."

"Threatened you? With what?"

Uvamon looked down. "Worse things."

"That's enough," Pangolinmon soothed. "But it sounds like his evil began at an early age. Why do you think he was chosen as a digidestined?"

"I don't know. But his digimon partner is a virus-type. That says something."

Pangolinmon excused his witness. Uvamon suddenly stopped halfway to the audience seats and faced the judge. "I do know this: I haven't slept soundly since I learned the digimon emperor was back in our world. He started out bad and just got eviler, and it's my opinion that a remarkable power of deception is just the latest addition to his devious skills. He's just biding his time."

"That's not true!" Wormmon yelled as he threw himself against the bars in fury, before being silenced by the judge.

Pangolinmon addressed the crowd. "Clearly the defendant was corrupted from a very early age. It's doubtful that someone so obviously evil could change so quickly and so completely." He ignored the judge's censure, raising his voice to be heard above hers. "I submit to you that he hasn't at all, and should be locked away for the safety of digimon and humans alike."

"WHY YOU…!" Yolei, quaking with rage, leaped to her feet, tossed her glasses on the table in front of her, and probably would have attacked Pangolinmon if T.K. and Kari hadn't held her back. Still seething, she reluctantly sat back down, bit her lip, and glared at Pangolinmon.

Unciamon asked Cody to call his next witness. "T.K." he said without hesitation.

When T.K. was seated, Cody commenced with the examination. "What do you think made Ken change so quickly, T.K.?"

"I think it was a lot of things. As hard as it is to believe, he never fully realized he was hurting living things." T.K. paused to think of something less incriminating to say. "Seeing Wormmon die really drove that point home. Wormmon sacrificed his energy to help Magnamon defeat Kimeramon. Ken knew that not only had he been mistreating sentient creatures, but he had caused the death of his only friend."

"You lost your own digimon once, didn't you," Cody said in a tone that was neither a question nor a statement.

"Yes," T.K. confirmed. "I was very young. My digimon, Angemon, sacrificed his life to defeat Devimon."

"How did that affect you?" Cody inquired.

T.K. said nothing for a moment. A distant, pained look crossed his face. Then his focus snapped back to the present. "I felt terrible. Even though I knew there was nothing I could have done, I felt responsible. I was angry at the forces of darkness that had taken him away from me. Angemon told me he would come back, and he reappeared as a digiegg immediately after his death, but I still felt the loss. I felt so…alone. It had to be a lot worse for Ken; he didn't know Wormmon could come back."

_It was worse than that_, Ken thought. _I didn't know if he would even want to come back_.

"Did Ken act…regretful when Wormmon died?" Cody chose his words carefully.

"Ken saw how wrong he was before he knew Wormmon was dying. He wasn't just regretful, he was devastated. He held Wormmon in his arms when he disintegrated. He was in such despair after that…it was like he couldn't hear us, like he didn't even know we were there. He just wandered off into the desert. I wondered if anyone would hear from him again. I didn't know if he was going to make it."

_I almost didn't_, thought Ken, and he involuntarily recalled that fateful day.

Flashback

Ken stumbled through the elevator door. Old habits alone led his hand to the button for the appropriate floor; he was beyond thinking. His grief and guilt were physical pains that permeated every cell of his body. As the elevator ascended, he collapsed onto the floor. The door opened, and had begun to close before he found the strength to crawl through it. The resolve that had kept him going for he-couldn't-tell-how-long in the scorching heat and gritty wind of the desert until he found a computer to open a digiport, and through the city streets until he reached his apartment building, focused intensely on one thought: home. Now he looked up and saw the name ICHIJOUJI written on a door, then his sight blurred until he could see nothing at all.

Present

"All in favor of a recess say aye," Unciamon requested.

"Aye!"

"All opposed say nay."

"Nay."

"The ayes have it. We'll reconvene at ten o'clock tomorrow morning. Dismissed."

Guards escorted Ken to his cell. The other digidestined left, along with the majority of the digimon, including Pangolinmon and Unciamon.

As the digidestined began walking across the bridge in the dull blue light of late dusk, Davis voiced the lament that weighed on all of their minds. "Ken doesn't deserve this!" He punctuated his assertion by punching the air.

"Why did he ask me to represent him?" Cody asked. "I can't do it."

"If anyone can, it's you," T.K. reassured him. "Ken knows what he's doing."

"Poor Ken. Talking about his past must be bringing back a lot of painful memories," said Kari.

"I don't think any of us can understand what Ken's been through," T.K. mused. "Especially before he got Wormmon back."

Gatomon agreed. "There has to be some reason he never talks about it."

"How did he find Wormmon, anyway?" Armadillomon asked.

Yolei suddenly stopped. "Oh no! I left my glasses back in the courtroom." She turned around and started running back, shouting "Don't wait up!" behind her.

"The thing about Yolei losing her glasses," Hawkmon said, "is that she can't see well enough to find them." He flew after his partner.

When Hawkmon entered the courtroom, Yolei was heading toward her seat, but then she changed direction and took her glasses out of her pocket, put them on, and proceeded through the door to the prison cells.

Hawkmon shook off his shock and followed after her. "Yolei, what are you doing?"

She turned in surprise. She started stammering some excuse, then gave up and confessed. "They shouldn't be doing this to Ken. He doesn't deserve it. I'm going to…break him out."

"Yolei…" Hawkmon was going to chide her for her impulsiveness, but realized her pretext of losing her glasses indicated an extent of premeditation unusual for her.

"Sh," she hushed. They could hear low murmurs drifting down the metal hallway, and followed them.

"I don't know, just a feeling." It was Ken's voice. ""I can't remember; that's why I asked you."

"With all the stress you're under, what made you think of it at all?"

"I was just looking out the window at the lake during the trial…there had to be a reason, Wormmon."

Yolei cleared her throat. "Ken?"

He jumped slightly, and turned around. "Yolei?" He walked to the bars. "What are you doing here?"

Yolei squinted and examined the dimly-lit cell. "They didn't even give you a bed?" she whispered in dismay.

"I didn't give these cells beds," he explained. "Kind of a taste of my own medicine. But why are you here?"

She took a deep breath. "I've come to rescue you."

He sighed. "Did Davis—"

"Nobody knows I'm here," she interrupted. "I snuck away. It shouldn't be too hard to break these bars."

"Do you notice they left Wormmon with me? That they don't even have guards posted?" Ken asked rhetorically. "I can escape whenever I want, and they know it."

"But…what?" Yolei questioned.

"All they want is to banish me form the digital world. It doesn't matter how they accomplish that. This trial has been brewing for years. My reign was a nightmare that the digimon won't easily forget. Have you noticed how many reporters were at the trial? The outcome won't depend on the judge's verdict, but on the public opinion the digimon have of me." Yolei still looked confused. Ken continued. "If I escape, the digimon will see it as an admission of guilt, and I'll never be able to show my face in the digital world again. It will be as if I lost, and maybe even worse. Unciamon and Pangolinmon know it. I think Pangolinmon is counting on it."

Yolei nodded, feeling very foolish. "Well, it seems I've wasted both of our time coming here. I'll go now."

"No," Ken begged. "I'm glad you came." He went through a list of things he could follow that up with, but nothing seemed appropriate.

Yolei took a step to leave, but Ken abruptly asked, "Yolei, why did you want to help me escape?"

She turned back. His face seemed to plead with her for an answer, not to the question he'd asked, but to a hundred mysteries that had plagued his life; a hundred heartbreaks. His pale face, framed by black hair, looked like a ghost in the half-light. One long, graceful hand was wrapped around a bar, and Yolei, not knowing why, reached out and placed her hand over it. Ken drew back, but when Yolei pressed her hand on the bars, he slowly reached out to her. Their fingertips touched around the cold metal. Their eyes met, and time froze. Yolei felt completely numb. Her brain went blank. Breathing stopped. As for Ken, his stomach tightened into a knot. A tingling started at his fingertips, and spread down his arm. His legs felt so weak, he feared he would fall down. Memories played through his head: every kind word, every sympathetic glance, every considerate deed, every chance touch that had ever passed between him and Yolei seemed like a piece of firewood tossed in a pile, and finally the flame had been applied, and it burst into a pillar of warm light.

Yolei finally pulled away. She breathed deeply, and when she finally trusted herself to speak, she made a conscious effort to sound casual. "I…should be going…I'll see you tomorrow."

"Right." Ken watched the girl and her digimon retreat down the corridor. The hand that had touched hers closed tightly.

"Ken?" Wormmon said, "what just happened?"

"Well…either I'm falling in love, or I'm coming down with something."

* * *

The next morning the humans returned to the courtroom with two new additions. 

"Davis," T.K. whispered, "you were supposed to tell Ken's parents he wouldn't be home for a while without making them worry. Why are they _here?"_

"Ken's mom somehow convinced me to tell her the whole story. Who knew women could be so persuasive?" Davis lamented.

Ken's parents took seats with the digidestined, and soon joined Yolei and Davis in heckling the prosecution until the judge threatened them into silence.

The prosecutor's first witness droned on and on about the bad precedents that would be set if Ken weren't punished for his crimes, and that crime should always be punished, even if the perpetrator had reformed, as a deterrent to others. Even Pangolinmon began to look bored.

When it was finally over, the room waited patiently for Cody to call the next witness. He paced for a moment, then looked at the audience.

"Yolei?"

"What?" She looked up, confused, then realized why he'd said her name. "Me!"

"Unless you don't want to." Cody knew she would with a little encouragement.

She looked at Ken. His expression, as usual, was unreadable. He met her eyes. She knew she had to do whatever she could to help him. She nodded, stood, and walked to the stand.

Cody paced some more before asking the first question. "As the Digidestined of Sincerity, can you tell us, in blatant honesty, whether you think Ken deserved to be punished for being the digimon emperor?"

Yolei was nervous and uncertain. "Deserved? I don't know; he did do some terrible, awful things back then. I guess he did deserve some kind of punishment."

Cody looked at her as though she'd just stabbed him in the back. "So, you think he should be punished?"

"No! I didn't mean that!" she yelled. "I'm trying to say the things he's been through—the things he's put himself through—are more than enough. This court simply can't punish him more than he's already punished himself." She looked at the cage; the forlorn figure within made her heart ache.

"You were the second of the team to forgive Ken and urge him to join, were you not?" Cody inquired.

"Yes," Yolei looked back again. "I was."

"Why did you do that?"

She pondered the question. "We needed him." She was barely audible, as though talking to herself. "We needed his help. We still need his help. The digiworld needs him. That's why he can't be found guilty. It doesn't' matter whether he deserves it; he simply must not be banished. The good he has done and can still do far outweighs the bad."

Cody was trying to think of another question to ask when Ken shouted, "Pangolinmon, _duck!_"

_"Burlap blast!" _A red fireball barely missed Pangolinmon's head as he dove behind the witness stand. A lizard-like digimon bounded across the room, leaping from chair to chair.

"Go Wormmon!" Ken ordered.

Wormmon squeezed between the bars. "Wormmon digivolve to...Stingmon!"

Stingmon collided with the attacking digimon in mid-air. After a brief struggle, a couple of guards restrained him.

"Bring him forward," Unciamon commanded. "Anolemon, explain yourself."

Anolemon futilely struggled against his captors. He gave up and merely stared with loathing.

"I believe I can explain this, your honor," Theramon said. "My organization heard rumors about a conspiracy by some members of the prosecution to assassinate their own representative and blame it on the defendant and his allies in order to sway your opinion in our favor."

Unciamon nodded. "Ken, how did you know Anolemon was preparing to attack?"

"He was positioning himself to get a clear shot. I noticed it a couple of minutes ago, but I didn't realize what he was doing until it was almost too late."

"You!" Anolemon shouted venomously as is head snapped in Ken's direction. "You destroyed my city! You burned my home! You caused so much destruction and death! You think you can get away with it! Well not if I have anything to say about it! _Burlap blast!" _A circle of glowing red and orange fire flared beneath his neck. He opened his mouth and the fireball transferred to it.

"Spiking Strike!" Stingmon hit Anolemon in the back. The fireball fired off-course and burned a hole in the floor, through which water set to boiling bubbled up, a few feet in front of Yolei, who stared in horror.

A shocked silence fell over the courtroom.

"Take him away. We'll have to question him," Unciamon said of the much-weakened Anolemon.

Before the shock wore off, a low rumbling shook the floating prison. It was followed by an ominous stillness. Ken stared out the window. The waves on the lake were growing.

"So that was it," he said as a cold fear gripped his heart. "I knew I had a reason." He turned his gaze back to the room. "Everyone get out of here!" he yelled. "Evacuate! Now!"

Digimon began following his vehement recommendation, and then an explosive sound erupted from the direction of the prison, and chaos quickly spread as panicked digimon and humans alike fought through the doors. Another crash sounded. A rafter broke from the ceiling and hit Ken's cage.

"Ken!" Stingmon flew toward his partner. Yolei also ran to him.

"Stingmon," Ken yelled over the racket, "get Yolei out of here. You can come back for me later."

"No way," Yolei objected.

Another crash of falling debris silenced her.

"Go!" Ken commanded.

Stingmon grabbed Yolei and broke through the roof.

"What's going on, Stingmon?" Yolei demanded.

He flew above the prison. "Look."

Yolei looked, and screamed.

An enormous digimon—it looked like a black crocodile with spines and tentacles—writhed on the surface of the lake, which looked like a pond by comparison. Most of the prison had been destroyed. Digimon and humans fled over the bridge.

"That's Leviamon," Stingmon explained. "Ken found it. It guards this lake and attacks anything that shows any sign of violence. Ken knew no one could attack his prison here. He couldn't remember it, and I didn't want to tell him; I didn't want to add to his worries and didn't' think Leviamon would have a reason to attack. How foolish of me."

Leviamon noticed the fleeing figures on the bridge and went after them. One of its giant tentacles snapped the bridge like a twig, sending the floating prison tilting dangerously on the high waves.

"They'll never make it!" Yolei cried. "Stingmon, we have to get down there, now."

"Right."

The other digidestined had already sent their partners to try to slow down Leviamon. Aquilamon soon joined them.

"Razor scale!" Pangolinmon attacked.

"Silver needle!" Unciamon joined in.

Leviamon barely noticed.

Ken's parents also tarried.

"Get out of here!" T.K. ordered them. "This isn't your fight."

"No way. Our son's in danger," Ken's dad insisted.

"And what do you think you can do for him?" T.K. retorted.

"If we could still DNA digivolve we could cream that thing in no time!" Davis opined.

"I feel so helpless," Pangolinmon cried.

"We have to try," Unciamon growled. "It's our responsibility!"

"You're right," Pangolinmon agreed. "This trial was a bad idea. If any digimon get hurt it will be partly my fault."

"I'm more worried about that poor boy," said Unciamon.

Ken's father screamed, "Oh no! The prison's sinking!"

"The digimon can't take this. They'll be destroyed!" Mrs. Ichijouji yelled.

"WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!" Mr. and Mrs. Ichijouji, Pangolinmon, and Unciamon shouted in unison.

A bright light surrounded them. When it passed, Ken's mom and dad were holding digivices. They exchanged confused glances, then nodded. "Let's do it!" They held out their digivices.

"Unciamon digivolve to...Plesiomon!"

"Pangolinmon digivolve to...Smilemon!"

Interestingly, the digimon who had resembeld an African scaly anteater was now a saber-toothed tiger, and the one that had looked just like a snow leopard had digivolved to a beautiful silver ancient marine reptile.

"Come on, Plesiomon. Let's go rescue my son!" Ken's dad jumped onto Plesiomon's back, and they slid off into the water.

"Be careful, Honey." Mrs. Ichijouji called. "Smilemon, ATTACK!"

It had started with water gurgling in through the hole in the floor and splashing in through some broken windows, but now the water level of the room was noticeably rising. In fact, it already covered the bottom of the hanging cage. Ken had given up on waiting for a rescue a few minutes ago and was now trying to find a way to break the lock.

The floating prison was losing its buoyancy at an accelerating rate as water seeped into holes in the air-filled compartments below. Ken fought down panic as the water level rose to his knees, then his waste. The cage barely had room for him to stand. Because it was suspended from the ceiling and allowed to swing freely, the top of the cage was parallel to the water level, even though the prison itself was now tilted at an angle.

The water rose above the lock, preventing Ken from continuing his efforts to pick it. He shook the cage door, swam back and kicked it, and tried to pull a bar out—all to no avail.

"I made it to hold digimon," Ken said to himself, "who are stronger than humans."

The water reached his chin.

It suddenly struck him as hilariously ironic (and he laughed out loud) that he would die trapped in his own prison.

He was now treading water and pressing his face against the top of the cage.

"Ken!"

"Dad?" In his surprise he accidentally swallowed some water and started coughing.

"_Plesiolysis!" _

Plesiomon's attack disintegrated the top of the cage.

"Great timing," Ken said as he swam over to join his father. "We have to get to Leviamon. The others don't understand...they can't defeat it. I know how to stop it."

The battle looked hopeless. Even with all of the digimon working together, Leviamon was too strong. They had managed to distract the giant digimon long enough for most of the others to escape, but Leviamon had become enraged and was fighting so ferociously that the digimon wouldn't last for a moment if they turned their backs to it. They were fighting just to stay alive from second to second.

The digimon were running out of energy. Smilemon was now carrying the fight.

"KEN!" Stingmon cried as he saw the prison sink completely under the water with a final "blurgk" as the air escaped to the surface.

The digidestined on the bridge looked on with fear and shock.

"No way," Davis shook his head. "He can't be dead. He can't be."

"Not Ken! Not my sweet Ken!" Mrs. Ichijouji began to weep.

Cody stared mutely at the waves generated by the sinking building.

T.K. ran toward the water and was about to dive in when Kari grabbed him. "No, T.K. It's sinking too fast; you'd just be dragged down too!" She sounded on the verge of a sob.

Yolei screamed and fell to her knees. In her mind she saw Ken trapped in the cage. She thought that if she had only insisted on staying she could have broken him out. She would blame herself for his death.

Stingmon felt the same way. He dove toward the water, but was hit immediately by one of Leviamon's tentacles. He slammed into the bridge hard and de-digivolved to Wormmon.

All this transpired in a matter of seconds.

Their despair proved premature. A mere moment later, Plesiomon's head broke the surface, soon followed by Mr. Ichijouji and Ken, who had no idea what mourning had just transpired on his behalf.

Ken leaped to the bridge and kneeled by Wormmon only long enough to make sure he wasn't seriously injured before running past his astonished friends to the very edge of the broken bridge, as near as he could get to the battle. "Stop the attack, all of you! De-digivolve _now!"_

"But, Ken..." Exveemon protested.

"Just trust me. Do it!"

The digimon did as told, and as rookies fell into their partners' arms.

Leviamon looked to be on the point of finishing them all off, but Ken didn't flinch. He unexpectedly bowed to the beast and spoke to it. "O, exalted water dragon, we beg your forgiveness. We had no intention...we wouldn't dare...or even have the hubris to _contemplate_ challenging you."

Leviamon paused and looked at Ken.

He continued. "We would never dare compare ourselves to your greatness. We are nothing in the eyes of those who see your magnificent form. You are too strong, cunning, and wise for any of us to hold a candle to the brilliant raging wildfire of your greatness. We do not even deserve the honor of dying at your exalted hand. If you find not even worth killing, our tongues will not rest from praising you near and far."

Leviamon looked uncertain.

"And if you must kill someone to avenge any slight you might have perceived," Ken added, "kill me, though I am unworthy of dying such a death, for I have most failed to fully appreciate your grandeur."

That wasn't what the others on the bridge wanted to hear, and he might not have said it if he knew how worried his friends had just been for him. But he figured that if he offered his life to satisfy Leviamon's pride it would actually increase the chances of Leviamon sparing all of them. Ken also didn't delude himself into thinking Leviamon didn't recognize him, so he added, "Kill me, like you wanted to when first we met."

Leviamon lowered its head until its gigantic eye was level with Ken, who managed to keep from shaking and merely bowed lower. Then Leviamon sank beneath the lake.

Ken's friends ran to him.

"Ken, that was...wow! How did you know what to say to that thing?" Davis asked.

"Its weakness is its pride," Ken explained. "I learned that the first time I encountered it. At the time I had to swallow my own pride to convince it not to kill me. I told it I wanted to build a house on its lake because it was so powerful nothing would dare attack me there. It sees every attack near its lake as a personal challenge."

"Ken," Unciamon said, "I've decided to find you not guilty."

"Thank you."

"Now how about we all get out of here?" Pangolinmon suggested.

"Good idea," agreed Ken. "And when I get home I'd like to hear exactly how my parents became digidestined."

As they walked away from the lake, Yolei put her hand on Ken's shoulder. He turned toward her. They slowed their steps and fell behind the others.

"That was the bravest thing I've ever seen, Ken."

He made a dismissive grunt. "After everything we've been through..."

"After everything we've been through, that was still amazing."

He shrugged. There was something else he wanted to talk about. "Yolei...you...you never answered my question last night. You risked a lot, you know, to see me. Why did you do that?"

Yolei looked away and bit her lip, remembering how stupid she'd been to think she could rescue Ken. She tried to think of something that would make her actions seem less foolish. "I wanted to make sure you were okay. You know, I was concerned."

"Oh," Ken mumbled. "Thank you." He picked up his pace to catch up with Davis and the others.

_How foolish of me, _thought Yolei, _to think someone as handsome, talented, and all-around incredible as Ken would be interested in me._ She tried to push the thought from her mind.

_So I was right,_ Ken was thinking. _I read too much into her visit. I should have known she wouldn't want to be anything but friends with me._ He continued to think about it. A lot.


End file.
